Different
by Aqua15
Summary: Wherein a new student arrives, Hermione is different, Harry and Draco get set up and Slytherin isn't as bad as it seems...
1. Prologue

Title: Different

Disclaimer: Not mine, never mine... all belongs to JK Rowling

Note: Ok, this will be an OC story, but hopefully not a Mary Sue one... I also need a Beta Reader, so if anyone is interested, please e-mail me...

Prologue – Something new

Aranel Flammae entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry with a frown on her face. She was 17 years old and had transferred from her old school to Hogwarts and was currently going in line with about thirty quivering first years. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, had explained her the house concept and had told her, that she needed to be sorted with those kids. Well, now she definitely knew, why she hated small children.

When she walked toward the small chair, on which an old, tattered hat lay, she noticed, that the hall seemed to have no real roof. Roquen, who had been staying at in the castle for a month already, had told her about the bewitched roof in one of his letters, but now that she saw it, she was truly impressed. It definitely looked wonderful.

Then she let her eyes wander to the Head Table, where all the teachers were already sitting. Aranel searched for Roquen, who she found talking quietly to a dark haired teacher. 

'This must be Snape.' she thought, remembering Roquen's description of the Potions professor.

She definitely felt better with Roquen being here, too.

The Sorting took an eternity and Aranel slowly got pissed off, because every time a brat was sorted, the whole house community started to yell and cheer and right now Aranel just wanted her peace. The train ride to the school had been trying enough in her opinion.

Finally it was her turn to wear the Hat and she sat down on the way too small stool.

"Oh, that's interesting!" she suddenly heard, when the Hat was placed on her head. 

"Really interesting. You seem to be in a foul mood today, aren't you? Anyway, where do you want to be?" the Hat asked.

'I don't care...' Aranel thought back. She really didn't.

"Okay, then I'll put you in SLYTHERIN!" the Hat shouted out loud and Aranel got up, walking to the Slytherin table, sitting down as far away from a first year as possible. When she looked up at the Head Table she noticed, that Roquen was looking at her, smiling. Aranel smiled back, closing her eyes, to show him, that she was tired.

Then the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, got up and welcomed all to the new year at school. When he was sitting down again, the tables filled with food and drink.

Aranel had noticed already when she had entered the Great Hall, that she was being stared at. But she has just chosen to ignore everyone, because she certainly wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

* * *

  


Hermione Granger sat between her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, who where currently trying to eat and to speak at the same time. They were talking about that new girl – Aranel Flammae – that was now a Slytherin. Hermione, too, was curious where that girl came from and why she had come to Hogwarts, but she didn't like gossiping about people she didn't know. She generally didn't like gossiping at all, and found herself slightly annoyed by her two friends. Chewing on a piece of meat, she looked over at the Slytherin table, where Aranel sat, looking grumpy. She ignored Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, who clearly wanted to get her attention and focused said attention solely on the food. Draco Malfoy just sat there, looking smug and clearly amused by that scene.

After the dessert, Albus Dumbledore got up for the second time that evening and announced, "Please notice, that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds for every student. I want all first years and other forgetful students to remember this little fact. Mr. Filch has further asked me to tell you, that magic on the corridors between class won't be tolerated. I also have to announce, that Professor Snape will have a new assistant this year. Roquen Flammae will be teaching some of Professor Snape's classes and will help him on some potions projects."

Roquen Flammae had gotten up and had looked at the students, when his name had been announced. Hermione thought, he looked pretty handsome and was confirmed by a deep sigh from Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Roquen Flammae had shoulder length brown hair and was pretty tall.

Hermione had noticed the last name the new Potions assistant shared with the new girl from Slytherin, but she chose not to mention that to the others. She also noticed, that Aranel looked less grumpy when Mr. Flammae had been mentioned and had actually smiled in the direction of the Head Table.

But her thoughts were then interrupted by all the students that got up. She suddenly remembered, that as a Head Girl she still had to lead the students in small groups to the Gryffindor common room. 

"Please follow me!" she shouted and led a bunch of first, second and third years out of the Great Hall.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Aranel woke up early the next morning. She had a major headache from last night with all those students shouting and screaming. And then in the common room everybody had sat in small groups, chatting and talking to each other. She had tried to listen to what they had said, but pretty soon she had found herself bored to hell and had left for her dorm. Luckily nobody had been there but her, yet. So she had changed quickly and had gone to bed, putting up a sound wave repelling charm. Just in case.

Slowly Aranel got up and went to the bathroom, noticing, that hadn't been in vain. That Parkinson girl snored like an old man.

'Why have I agreed to this? Why do I want to study in Britain?' she asked herself the umpteenth time. She just hoped, that they had interesting lessons here at Hogwarts or else she would go nuts with all those girly girls around her. 

'And hopefully I won't have to become friends with them...'

When Aranel arrived for breakfast, the Great Hall was pretty empty. Her headache was gone, thanks to a small potion she always had with her. The food, she had realized the day before, was delicious, though very British. She decided to ask anyone if there was some wholegrain bread, or butter, or jam or anything that wasn't sausages or ham and eggs, but when she did so, she was being stared at and then ignored. 

'Fine then...' she thought and grabbed her timetable, that had appeared beside her, '... I don't have to eat.' She stood up and headed out the doors of the Great Hall, going to the dungeons to fetch her books for the classes she had that day.

"This is going to be like at home..." she sighed and entered the common room.

***

Hermione woke with a start. Yawning she reached for the curtains of her bed. Drawing them aside, she looked at the old grandfather clock in the corner of the 7th year girls dorm. It was 7.30, pretty early still, but Hermione was hungry. She washed herself and then put on her new uniform, that she had bought at Madame Malkin's that summer. She had been spending one moth of her holidays with her parents and the rest at the Burrow with Harry and Ron. Ron had tried a move on her, telling her he had fancied her since fourth year, but she had told him, that she liked him very much, but not like that. They were still good friends, though.

When she entered the Great Hall, Hermione saw, that Harry and Ron were already eating and chatting animatedly about some topic. Supposedly Quidditch. She sat down beside Ron and he timetable for the year appeared on the table in front of her. Pouring herself some orange juice she examined it with an air of self pride. She had signed up for three additional courses, that should help her get a place at a decent university. Surely she, and everybody else, knew, that she would be accepted at any university in the country, also without her extra lessons, but she loved all that work. She just wondered if she would be alone in those courses, or if anybody else had signed up for them, too.

Suddenly Hermione was tapped on the shoulder.

"What?" she shrieked, turning to a shocked looking Ron.

"Er... sorry? Harry and I were talking to you for some time now, and you just didn't react. So I thought that, maybe..."

"Oh, sorry Ron. I was just reading my timetable. I was pretty distracted by that, I guess." Hermione apologized.

"Well, doesn't matter. We just wanted to know which classes we'll have together." Ron continued.

The three compared their timetables. The boys were relieved, that in every difficult subject they had Hermione with them. That was important, because they naturally wanted to pass their NEWTs. 

"Ok, boys. We'll see each other in the DADA classroom. I have to go to the Owlery before classes. My mum told me to send her a letter if everything was okay. I think she's getting more anxious every year. Even though Voldemort is gone now."

At the name of the Dark Lord Ron flinched, but didn't say anything. He had been present at the last battle, but he still didn't like that name. 

"Okay." Harry and Ron said in unison and started to laugh at that.

'Boys.' Hermione thought fondly and left the Great Hall.

***

When Aranel had gotten her books from her dorm she decided to head for the library. Her only problem was, that she didn't have any clue, where that library could be. So she asked the first person she saw, some white blonde guy she had seen at the Welcoming Feast. 

'Draco something...' she thought and walked towards him. 

"Sorry..." she started "... can you tell me where the library is?" 

"Why do you ask me? Ask some first year you came here with. Or buy a map!" he retorted, looking at her annoyed.

'Oh God, why is everybody so bloody nice to me, here?' Aranel thought, keeping her anger at bay.

"Okay, next time I'll ask someone who actually knows the way to the library. Seems like you don't." she said casually and turned round to go. Suddenly she was grabbed by an arm and that boy whispered, no snarled, into her ear, " I don't know the way to the library? Don't you know who you're talking to?"

"Actually, no." she answered, freeing herself from his grip. "We've never been introduced, I think. By the way, I'm Aranel Flammae." She stretched out her hand.

"Yeah, you're the new one." Draco said, eyeing her hand suspiciously, but then took it.

"I'm Draco Malfoy."

'Malfoy, that was it!' Aranel thought and shook his hand.

"So, could you please tell me where the library is?" 

"If you're in front of the Great Hall, your eyes in the direction of the doors, the library is up the stairs on the left, on the second floor, the forth door on the right. You can't miss is. And now, don't bother me any more!" Draco finished when a very bouncy Pansy Parkinson came up the stairs from the girl's dorm, shouting, "Drakey! Where are you?" on the top of her lungs.

"should I wish you good luck?" Aranel asked when she noticed the pained expression on Draco's face. 

"Yeah, definitely!" Draco whispered, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Okay, good luck, and thanks." she said and left the common room as fast as possible, heading for the library.

'That guy isn't really too bad. But that Parkinson girl is a nuisance.' Aranel thought and smiled when she remembered Draco's face when he had heard that shrill voice calling out his name. She was so happy, that she hadn't become such a girly girl like all of those other Slytherins she had met until now. Which weren't much, but enough to be grateful. How those should be Slytherins, though, she couldn't explain.

***

When Hermione entered the DADA classroom, Professor Lupin and the other students were already there. Somehow she had forgotten the time writing to her mother, that she had to run the way up the stairs from the Owlery. So she flopped down on her chair, panting heavily for air, when Lupin started his lesson.

"I'll be teaching the NEWT Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons again this year. This year we will cover all the advanced dark spells and how you will be able to defend yourselves against them. Then we will talk about vampires and werewolves again, but this time together with Potions, discussing the DNA change and antidote possibilities. Everyone of you will have to write a NEWT paper the second semester, choosing a topic yourselves. Now please open your books on page 11."

At the mentioning of the NEWT paper many students had groaned. Hermione was thrilled, actually, but she had also been surprised, that they would have a Potions – DADA project, given the animosity between Snape and Lupin. 

When the students had all opened their textbooks, Lupin continued.

"We will start with the torture spells. Does anyone know anything about torture spells?" 

The professor had already turned towards Hermione, who's hand had shot into the air, when another hand was lifted.

Hermione was surprised. That other hand belonged to that new girl that had been sorted into Slytherin the day before.

"Yes, Miss Flammae?" Lupin tried. He knew, that Hermione would know the answer, so he wanted to give the others a chance.

"Torture spells have their origin in Rome in the second century before Christ. There a wizard developed a spell to punish his slaves, that wouldn't comply. He named the spell 'Vexatus', which means 'beaten'. The feeling the spell creates to the cursed is the one like being beaten with a club. This spell has the been developed further. The cruellest form is the Cruciatus Curse."

Lupin looked, like all the other people in the room, at Aranel as if she had grown a second head. Hermione was dumbfounded. That girl sounded like her. Well, not exactly, but she definitely had a similar style in answering to questions. The girl – 'Aranel', Hermione thought – looked more and more uncomfortable with being stared at and chose to ignore the others by reading her textbook.

"Yes, that was right, Miss Flammae. " Lupin said. "Five points to Slytherin."

With that the class was alive again. Hermione saw Malfoy looking strangely at Aranel, but then she turned her attention to Lupin again. During the whole lesson there was a kind of 'answer competition' between Hermione and Aranel. At the end of the period, both Slytherin and Gryffindor had earned 20 points. When Hermione wanted to talk to Aranel, though, the girl was already gone. 

***

Aranel felt wonderful. That DADA lesson had passed pretty well. She had earned 20 points for her house and she had a period off until next class, which would be Arithmancy. 

"Hey, wait up!" she heard someone shouting behind her.

It was Draco who slowly jogged up to her. 

"You walk pretty fast!" he said, falling into step beside her.

"Sorry, long legs. " she answered.

It was true. She had long legs. She was pretty tall, too, for a woman. She nearly reached six feet, and towered over most of the girls her age. She didn't grow any more, though.

"That was amazing." Draco said after a few moments.

"What?" she asked.

"How you showed that mudblood her position. That girl is an annoying know-it-all since her first year. And a Gryffindor." Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Mudblood? You still use that term? That's pretty degrading, you know? And I thought she was pretty nice. At least she is definitely more interesting than all those girls in my dorm. They are hell." Aranel said.

"I know it's degrading. That's the point." Draco sighed. "And she isn't nice. She is best friends with the Potter boy and the weasel. Those three are to annoying to bear."

"Sorry, I don't know them, so I don't know if you opinion is justified."

"It is, you'll see." Draco spat.

"Okay, I'll see. And how was your encounter with the fury?"

"I survived. She doesn't like you, you know."

"Why?" Aranel sighed. And again she had managed to be hated without doing anything.

"Oh, she thinks you're weird. You haven't spoken to her at all yesterday, you asked for wholegrain bread and butter today at breakfast and you knew as much as the mudblood in DADA."

"And what's the point?" Somehow she didn't get it.

"Well, Pansy thinks she's the queen of Slytherin and everybody should bow to her. She's constantly on diet and she hates people who know more than her."

"That's ridiculous! And you're together with her?"

"Technically, no. I don't really want her to be around, but she somehow is determined to make me hers and her boyfriend."

"And why don't you just tell her that?"

"I do!" Draco snorted. "But she chooses to ignore those comments, or she's just too dumb to get my point."

Suddenly Aranel's stomach grumbled. She quickly put a hand on her belly and smiled apologetically at Draco. 

"Damn. Sorry, but I think I'm hungry. I don't like your British breakfast very much. I can't eat sausages first thing in the morning. So I chose not to eat anything at all. Bad idea, I guess."

"Come on, I'll show you the kitchen."

Complying, and still holding her stomach, Aranel followed Draco down the stairs.

***

Hermione was on her way to the library, because she had a free period until Arithmancy. Harry and Ron had taken Muggle Studies and had a lesson now. She mentally prepared herself for another lesson, Charms, when she heard familiar voices. She turned round and saw Aranel chatting with Malfoy, walking slowly in her direction. 

'Why Malfoy?' she thought.

Hermione chose to stay where she was, letting them pass her, pretending to read. 

"Hi!" someone suddenly said.

Hermione looked up, seeing Aranel standing in front of her, a hand stretched out for her to shake.

"I'm Aranel Flammae."

"Hermione Granger." she answered and shook Aranel's hand. She noticed, that Draco looked disgusted in her direction, but didn't say anything. 

"It was nice meeting you." Aranel said after a moment, broke the handshake and went away, Draco following her.

'That was definitely weird.' Hermione thought, continuing towards the library.

***

Arithmancy, Charms and Care of Magical Creatures that day were similar to DADA. Both Aranel and Hermione kept answering question after question, taking delight in the way their classmates looked at them. At one point during Charms, both, Harry and Draco, had simultaneously leant in to their housemates to calm them down. To those who didn't know Aranel or Hermione very well, it looked like an extremely unusual fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin. In truth both girls were extremely amused when they were the only ones again to know the answer and Professor Flitwick literally rotated, because he didn't know who to choose.

Hermione was relieved, too. For once she wasn't the only one to know the answer to all the difficult questions. She wasn't the Gryffindor-know-it-all any more. There was a Slytherin-know-it-all, too, who she found interesting and – strangely – a nice person.

'Well, that's definitely a first.' Hermione mused. 'A Gryffindor and a Slytherin not being hostile.'

Other than Charms, Care of Magical Creatures was pretty normal, because Hagrid had a rather 'practise oriented' style of teaching and didn't like asking questions very much.

"Because that dumb giant doesn't know the answers himself." Draco whispered to Aranel, when she asked him why they didn't learn any theory and weren't asked any questions. Aranel had shot Draco a look, that said 'Why do you have to be so damn arrogant?', but Draco just shrugged and turned his attention back to Hagrid. 

Their assignment for the day was to learn the differences between a Norwegian Ridgeback and a Chinese Fireball by identifying their teeth correctly. Neville Longbottom managed to cut himself five minutes into the practical work and Hermione took him to the Hospital Wing. 

"That Longbottom boy always hurts himself, or others... You might watch out for him." Draco whispered to Aranel after that incident. Aranel just nodded, but chose to file down that information as important, because she had seen him in Charms and then his spells had also been a disaster. 

***

After dinner Aranel excused herself and headed straight to the library. They had Potions first lesson in the morning and she hadn't read the book they would have that year, yet. At home she had been good at Potions, one of the best, but Draco had told her of Snape and she had thought a revision couldn't hurt. And she also knew Roquen would be there. She had heard some fifth years talking about him and his lessons. She hadn't really eavesdropped, so she had just heard a few isolated words. "Gorgeous", "strict" and "Slytherin" had been a few of them, but she hadn't expected anything less. She knew Roquen would be a strict but fair teacher, because he had taught her so much in the past. She hoped so much, that she would have him in class rather than that Professor Snape, but chances were slim. 

Sighing Aranel sat down at a table in the back of the library, comfortably cut from the rest of the students that visited the library. She needed her peace. Normally she would have gone to her dorm, but Parkinson surely would be there and her voice was just more than annoying. After about fifteen minutes of reading and revising the first few pages, someone cleared their throat beside her. 

Questioningly Aranel looked up and saw Hermione standing beside her.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but you are occupying my table." Hermione said, a smile playing around her lips. 

"Oh, is this true? I'm so sorry. I didn't know that your name is carved into that desk to make it yours."

"I didn't carve my name in. I have the common law, though."

"Common law?" Aranel inquired.

"Yes. This desk had been mine for the past six years. So I'm afraid this desk will be mine this year, too." Hermione answered, her smile getting larger every second.

Aranel, who had looked downright pissed off the whole time, suddenly laughed out loud and nearly fell off her chair. That had earned her an annoyed "Sush!" from Madame Pince, but she didn't care. Finally she said, between a few laughs, "You know, I was never good at being hostile towards people that I thought seemed nice."

"Neither was I." Hermione said, sitting down on the free chair opposite Aranel's.

"What have you been reading?" she inquired after she had put her own books on the table. 

"Potions. I thought a little revision was wise after what Draco had told me about that Professor Snape." Aranel said, lifting her book from the table to let Hermione read the title.

"Draco? Malfoy is a Slytherin. Snape loves his precious little Slytherins. He can't be afraid of him..." Hermione said, letting out a snort. "Nothing against you of course... The lessons today were pretty interesting, don't you think?"

"Yes, definitely!" Aranel laughed. "Draco told me you are the resident Gryffindor-know-it-all. He also told me, that you are a Muggle born, but he used a rather not very nice word."

"Why are you talking to Malfoy anyway? He's the worst of those Slytherins. Just a younger copy of his Death Eater father." 

"He isn't so bad, really. He definitely is a little arrogant and snobbish and all, but he's way better than Pansy Parkinson or those two mindless idiots, that always follow him around."

"Well, I don't like him very much. Harry and Ron, you know, those two that walk around with me, my two best friends, they don't like him very much either. They actually loath him. But he loathes us back, so everything's all right, I guess." Hermione explained.

"If you say so. I couldn't live with that. I'm okay with people ignoring me and hating me, but when I know, that I hate a certain person, I always try to do something about that." 

When Aranel had finished there was a moment of silence. Hermione seemed to think about what she had said.

"Well, you could be right. I just have one question about yourself. Where do you come from?"

"I'm from Austria." Aranel started. "I went to the only magical school there. It's also a boarding school, but very different from Hogwarts. There are no houses, but class communities, that stay together for eight years until they graduate."

"So, have you finished school there, or are you finishing it here?"

"I'm finishing school here, because I want to study in England. And to be able to study here I have to pass those NEWTs." Aranel answered. It was nice talking to Hermione. Draco hadn't been right about her. But Hermione wasn't right with her opinion of Draco, either. So she didn't blame him. 

"What do you want to study?" Hermione asked, definitely curious.

"I want to study Charms and partly Potions development. But not that research kind of stuff, but in connection with linguistics, like the Latin part of spells and how those spells affect our magical aura." Aranel answered. She was used to being stared at when she told people he study choice. 

"That's definitely challenging!" Hermione exclaimed surprised. She had thought about the subject she wanted to study in the future, but she hadn't decided on a special subject, yet.

"Yeah, but I've always been interested in that." Aranel smiled and looked at the clock on the wall. "Um, sorry, but I need to go to my dorm room now. I need to do my homework." she excused herself.

"Your homework? In your dorm?" Hermione asked, unbelieving.

"Yes," Aranel grinned, "I always write my homework in bed." Then she laughed and exited the library.


End file.
